The Dupont´s Lark

The birds on the brink of extinction sing worse than those than they are not it.

The males of populations of birds on the brink of extinction have a poorer and simple song than those species with a great viability, according to a team of the Superior Council of Scientific Researches (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. CSIC).
The investigators analyzed during four years in steppes of the Valley of the Ebro a threatened species of bird: the Dupont´s Lark (Chersophilus duponti).
With this work the scientists of the CSIC have discovered that the greater or smaller repertoire of the song of the birds can work like indicator of its survival.
According to the investigator of the CSIC and director of the study, Paola Laiolo, the reason that explains the song of the male birds is simpler in threatened species is that “the diversity of melodies depends on two factors nails in the viability of the populations: the population size and the number of youthful birds by year “.

“the song of the Dupont’s lark has up to 12 musical sequences with 13 different notes each one, but in the populations with possibility of being extinguished the birds they only sing three or four phrases” , detail the specialists.
This must, according to the scientists, to that the young does not have a sufficient number of adult males to whom to imitate and, for that reason, only three or four learn melodies that will be, as well, solely those that will be able to sing if it does not increase the number of birds in his population.

Until now, one had demonstrated to the relation between the song and the quality of the birds at the time of being selected by the females in a sexual context.
Nevertheless, “ it is the first time that the song can constitute an indicator of the quality of population”, assure the scientists the work.

Dupont’s Lark in Burgos, data of the Ornithological Yearbook of the Province of Burgos

ALONDRA RICOTÍ
Chersophilus duponti (Vieillot, 1820).
Dupont’s Lark
Status and population:

Atlas of the Breeding birds of the Province of Burgos (Roman ET al., 1996): Sedentary . 110-135 individuals.
Ornithological Yearbook of the Province of Burgos: Sedentary . In decrease.